Patrick G. Ryan, Jr.
Founder
Pat Ryan is a business and civic entrepreneur who has created several high growth tech companies. Pat is recognized as one of the few business entrepreneurs who has also achieved dramatic entrepreneurial success in urban education.
Pat currently serves as Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of INCISENT Technologies. INCISENT, recognized by Inc. Magazine in 2008 as the #4 fastest growing privately held software company in the United States, serves as the platform and incubator for innovative industry changing technologies that spin out into high growth companies:
• MAX, Marketing through Automated eXpertise, has reinvented online classified advertising through its innovative Consumer Optimization technologies. MAX provides the content powering ads on major websites across the U.S. through intelligent online advertising systems for major companies such as BMW USA as well as national and regional retailers.
• FirstLook harnesses the power of predictive analytics – the secret behind WalMart’s unparalleled success – transforming the automotive industry’s retail channel from “supply” to “demand” driven through world class inventory management, creating more efficient and consumer centered retailers prepared to succeed in the wake of the industry’s meltdown.
Pat is responsible for INCISENT’s vision and strategy as well as leading its innovation incubator for new technologies and businesses. In that role Pat was awarded a U.S. Patent for INCISENT’s first generation Expert System Technology as a part of a team from INCISENT and Northwestern University’s Artificial Intelligence DevLab. After graduating from Georgetown University with a degree in government, Pat started his career as a teacher on Chicago’s West Side and has been a leading civic entrepreneur in education for over twenty years.
Prior to his entrepreneurial business and civic endeavors, Pat attended the Chicago Police Academy where his classmates elected him “Outstanding Recruit.” Pat’s work in law enforcement included work as a narcotics investigator focused on major gang narcotics activity in the inner-city of Chicago; in this role he received a commendation for leading a $1.1 million cocaine seizure.
After completing his work in law enforcement, Pat returned to graduate school earning a Master of Business Administration from the Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and a Juris Doctor cum laude from the Northwestern University School of Law.
In addition to his work leading The Alain Locke Initiative, Pat is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), the Council on Foreign Relations in New York and the Commercial Club of Chicago. Pat is a Trustee of Northwestern University and a member of its Executive Committee as well as past Chairman of the Advisory Board of Northwestern School of Education and Social Policy. In Chicago, he is a Director of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurship Center and is a Trustee of the Field Museum. Pat serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Penske Corporation, a $17 billion diversified global transportation holding company.
Pat was named a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute in 1999 as well as one of the 100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In 2006 Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management named Pat Social Entrepreneur of the Year for his innovative work in urban education. Pat and his wife Lydia live on Chicago’s North Side with their three children.
Claire Hartfield.jpg)
Chief Operating Officer
Claire Hartfield has worked with Inner-City Teaching Corps since 2000. Until 2009, she served as Chief of Staff, overseeing strategic planning for Alain Locke Charter School and the ExSL School Leadership Program. In 2009 she moved into the role of Chief Operating Officer, overseeing all of The Alain Locke Initiative programs. Prior to joining The Alain Locke Initiative, Claire worked as an attorney, specializing in development of education policy at the law firm of Hartunian, Futterman & Howard. As a member of this private legal team, she developed and implemented system-wide desegregation plans for Chicago Public Schools and Rockford Public Schools. This work built on her studies at the University of Chicago Law School (J.D.) and Yale University (A.B.). Claire has also authored an award-winning children’s book, Me and Uncle Romie, published in December 2002.
Elaine Berndes
Managing Director, School Leadership Programs
After receiving her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin - Madison, Elaine spent 10 years in the fields of marketing and advertising for publishing companies in New York and Chicago. Volunteering for the East Harlem Tutorial Program in New York and then the Mercedes-Benz Mentoring Program of Chicago, Elaine's passion for improving education and child welfare inspired a career change. She joined Teach For America and spent three years as a Chicago Public School teacher. Before joining The Alain Locke Initiative team, Elaine served as Director for Aspiring Principals at New Leaders for New Schools Chicago Program recruiting, selecting and supporting aspiring principals. As the Managing Director of School Leadership Programs, Elaine successfully launched the ExSL Program and currently oversees Accelerate – a partnership between The Alain Locke Initiative and the Levy Institute for Entrepreneurial Practice at the Kellogg School of Management which focuses on the development of high-quality principals for new, start-up schools.
Erin Brooks
Director of Teacher Identification and Placement, Inner-City Teaching Corps
As the Director of Teacher Identification and Placement, Erin is responsible for the recruitment, selection and placement of Inner-City Teaching Corps teachers (Recent College Graduates, Faith-Based Community and Career Changers). Prior to joining The Alain Locke Initiative, Erin worked for Teach For America's New York regional development team focused on Planning, Operations and Special Events. Erin was also a Teach For America corps member and taught kindergarten in the South Bronx. During that time she led an after school program for kindergarten and first grade students with local middle and high school students acting as tutors and mentors and helped her students attain significant academic gains each year. Erin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies and Spanish from the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Science in Teaching from Pace University. She is originally from Thousand Oaks, California.
Jim Conti
Director of Alumni Affairs
Jim excitedly helms all work with the alumni of The Alain Locke Initiative’s three programs: Inner-City Teaching Corps, Ryan Fellowship and Alain Locke Charter School. Balancing his team between relationship development and alumni programming, Jim works to bridge all three programs under the larger umbrella of working collaboratively to close the achievement gap in urban schools. Prior to beginning his work with alumni, Jim worked as the Director of National Recruitment for Inner-City Teaching Corps. In this role, Jim was responsible for recruiting corps members for the Inner-City Teaching Corps’ Recent College Graduates and Faith-Based Community tracks from colleges and universities around the country. After graduating from Boston College in 2007 with a degree in Communications, Jim joined Inner-City Teaching Corps as a corps member and spent two years teaching sixth grade language arts, reading and religion at the San Miguel School - Gary Comer Campus in Chicago's Austin neighborhood. Jim holds a Master of Science in Education from Northwestern University. Jim originally hails from Hudson, New Hampshire.
Pat Dwyer
Director of Teacher Support
Pat is proud to have been involved with The Alain Locke Initiative and Inner-City Teaching Corps for almost a decade. Pat started out as a corps member in the Faith-Based Community (formerly Volunteer Teaching Corps) track of ICTC from 2003 to 2005. He taught seventh grade homeroom and junior high English for six years at St. Malachy School on the West Side of Chicago. During this time, Pat was also a support person for two different Faith-Based Community houses. Having enjoyed both working with students and mentoring fellow teachers, he joined The Alain Locke Initiative Staff in 2009, where he has worked to support ICTC teachers in their efforts to close the achievement gap. Pat grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and graduated from Boston College with a philosophy degree. He also holds a Master of Science in Education from Northwestern University and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Social Justice Ministry from Catholic Theological Union.
Erica Eichleay
Field Coach
Erica began her teaching career in 1995 at the Frances Xavier Warde School (FXW) in Chicago, teaching grades four through eight. After leaving the classroom as a new mom, Erica continued her work with FXW as a curriculum consultant and joined The Alain Locke Initiative in 2006. A strong proponent of quality classroom-based research, Erica conducted a number of research projects primarily in the area of assessment and presented her work at the WLU, a national conference sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Erica earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Oakland University and a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction from Loyola University.
Kelly Hall
Program Manager-West Coast
Kelly is very excited to see The Ryan Fellowship extend to the West Coast. Having been a former inner city teacher in Los Angeles, she understands the need for high quality school leaders and loves being able to work for a program that is primarily focused on placing the best leaders in schools. Kelly graduated from Azusa Pacific University with a degree in Marketing with a minor in Leadership Studies. After graduation, she joined Teach for America and taught in a traditional public school, later transitioning in to a Charter School where she could focus her time on empowering the community through the success of the school. While teaching, Kelly earned her Master’s degree in Urban Education and Policy from Loyola Marymount University. Being the Program Manager of the West Coast, she gets to balance her background in marketing with her passion for education reform. Her job consists of recruiting the highest quality teachers to join the Ryan Fellowship and form long term partnerships with Charter Schools in Los Angeles that want to support the program. Kelly is originally from Wheaton, Illinois but enjoys living with her husband in Seal Beach, California.
Natalie French
Special Education Field Coach
Natalie French graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with an education degree and received her master’s degree in special education from Cardinal Stritch University-Milwaukee. She taught in the Milwaukee Public School system for approximately 30 years. All of her professional teaching career was focused upon working with special needs students in high-need, urban schools. She became a founding member of the first public Waldorf School in the United States, the Urban Waldorf School/Milwaukee. Upon retirement, Natalie became a mentor for an alternative teacher certification program in Milwaukee, MTEC, as well as working with Milwaukee Area Technical College on GED preparation with at-risk and adjudicated youth. She also returned to school and received a master’s degree in Global Educational Leadership. Natalie has traveled widely and last summer completed a course of study at the International Language Institute in Rome which prepared her to teach English as a second and foreign language.
Emily Herrick
Managing Director of Teacher Programs
Emily Herrick graduated with honors from the University of Wisconsin. After serving as an outreach advocate for a Domestic Violence agency in Madison, WI for a year, she joined Teach For America as a elementary special education teacher in Houston, TX. She then went on to serve as a program director, providing direct support to teachers in the classroom and designing programmatic supports region wide for the Houston and Chicago regions of Teach For America. Prior to joining The Alain Locke Initiative Emily served as the network-wide Director of Professional Development for UNO Charter Schools and the Special Education Instructional Leader at the Perspectives Calumet High School of Technology.
Mike Malkoff
Field Coach, Manager of Professional Development Resources
Mike received his Bachelor of Science in Business Management and Marketing at Cornell University before becoming a New York City Teaching Fellow, through which he received his Master of Science in Elementary Education at Mercy College. Mike taught first through third grades as a classroom teacher in the Bronx, Nashville, and Chicago before becoming a field coach. Mike is also a volunteer docent with the Chicago Architecture Foundation, so don't be surprised if you see him leading Chicagoans and visitors around the Loop over the weekends.
Eileen Mullin-Gasteier
Vice President, External Relations
Eileen joined The Alain Locke Initiative team as VP, External Relations in early March. Eileen oversees the strategic and comprehensive growth of development, communications, and marketing for The Alain Locke Initiative’s core programs. Prior to joining The Alain Locke Initiative, Eileen served as the Director of Development for New Leaders for New Schools, Chicago Program for five years, during which the donor base grew exponentially toward a systematic and sustainable funding base. Prior to NLNS, Eileen worked for the Archdiocese of Chicago, where she was the Director of Institutional Advancement for St. Joseph College Seminary.
Having spent her grade school years at an independent and progressive urban school, Eileen understands firsthand the significance of exceptional educational opportunities and the urgent need for high-impact educational leadership. A native of Cleveland, Ohio she has called Chicago home for 10 years. She and her husband live in the South Loop and have two young children. Eileen received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology at the University of Dayton and an M.B.A. from Loyola University Chicago.
Keelin Philippe
Director, Teacher Coaching
After graduating from Villanova University in 2000, Keelin joined Inner-City Teaching Corps Faith-Based Community (formerly known as Volunteer Teaching Corps). She spent seven years working in both Catholic schools and Chicago Public Schools before joining The Alain Locke Initiative as a coach for new teachers. In 2006, Keelin was the Illinois Math Awardee for the Presidential Awards for Math and Science. Keelin holds a master’s degree in Education from Northwestern University, and a master's in Literacy, Language and Culture with a Reading Specialist degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Kathleen Praznowski
Special Projects Manager
Kathleen Praznowski has dedicated her career to improving urban education. As a part of the Inner-City Teaching Corps she served as a middle school math teacher at Good Shepherd School in the Little Village neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. She also worked at the McCormick Tribune Foundation in their education department overseeing grants to early childhood organizations in high poverty areas. In her current role, she manages special projects and is the staff liaison to the Associate Board for the Alain Locke Initiative. Kathleen holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish from the College of the Holy Cross, a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Loyola University and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Chicago.
Catherine Rich
Director of Curriculum and Assessment, The Ryan Fellowship
After receiving her undergraduate degree from Northern Illinois University, Catherine has pursued her aspirational goal of making a difference in inner-city schools by helping to close the achievement gap. She has worked in high need schools in Detroit and Chicago where she challenged society’s expectations of minority, low-income children and sought to redefine expectations for the communities. Catherine moved into school leadership in 2007 to take over as the founding director of a charter school on Chicago’s southwest side. Throughout her four year tenure at UNO—Bartolome de Las Casas Charter School, her leadership strengths proved to yield consistent success, increasing proficiency levels on state test scores each year and outperforming neighborhood schools. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Education in Education Leadership at Roosevelt University. As the Director of Curriculum and Assessment for the Ryan Fellowship, Catherine seeks to develop and support aspiring principals to accelerate achievement in the first years of school operation.
Amanda Slone
Office Manager and Assistant to the Chief Operating Officer
Amanda has over 10 years of office administration experience, in a variety of fields, including the former Relay Services for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing near her hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. She tries with all her might to maintain order in the office as well as support the day to day operations of the organization. She has a severe book addiction and is an aspiring fiction writer. Amanda has been with The Alain Locke Initiative since April of 2011.
Amy Taylor
Director of Development
Amy joined The Alain Locke Initiative as the Director of Development in June 2011 and brings over 10 years of fundraising and development experience with a focus on youth development and education. Prior to joining The Alain Locke Initiative, Amy served as Director of Foundation Relations for Glenwood School, a private boarding school for low-income, single parent children. At Glenwood School, Amy oversaw all foundation activity by working closely with the Board and program staff to capitalize on opportunities for foundation and corporate funding as well as helping create strategic thinking for institutional foundation management. Amy also worked to improve strategies to diversify the school’s fundraising revenue streams to include public funding.
Amy received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Purdue University Calumet and a Masters in Social Work from Boston University. Her direct social work experience includes working with low-income families and children in a residential setting to provide resources and support that empower families break the cycle of poverty through education.
Cynthia Thomas
Director of Teacher Operations
Prior to joining The Alain Locke Initiative in June 1999, Cynthia taught grades three through eight during her twenty-five years at St. Sabina Academy on the South Side of Chicago, serving as the chair for both the Language and Science Departments. Recognized by both her school and community for her excellence as an educator, Cyndi is the recipient of the Heart of the School Award and the 17th Ward Someone You Should Know Award. Cyndi earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Barat College in Lake Forest, Illinois.
Amy Thompson
Data Manger
Having an in depth knowledge in database management, Amy creates and maintains a variety of essential databases for the organization; she also works closely with the Office Manager in maintaining the administrative office. Amy who has worked as a secretary, bookseller, and theatre spotlight operator, holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Performance from Oakland University, and participates in theatre productions around town as a lighting and sound designer/board operator.
Katie Thompson
Field Coach
Katie Thompson graduated from St. Xavier University. She taught in the Chicago Public School system as a classroom teacher serving grades one through five. Katie was trained as a Reading Recovery Specialist at Alexander Graham and worked extensively with at-risk first graders. She later moved to Robert Healy School, where she and a cohort of teachers wrote and were approved for a grant to create a “Small School,” Pathways to the New Millennium, located within Healy School, which created and followed a curriculum focused on technology integration. While teaching at Healy School, Katie achieved her Master in Education from Northern Illinois University, with a concentration in Instructional Technology. She eventually moved out of the classroom to take a position at Nathanael Greene as their Technology Coordinator.
Lloyd Warber
Technology Coordinator
Prior to joining The Alain Locke Initiative in 2001 Lloyd Warber worked as a senior level technology consultant focused on network solutions, help desk support, network migrations, and project management. With over 12 years of experience in the education and technology fields Lloyd works closely with the executive team to manage and maintain all information technology needs for the organization.
The Alain Locke School
Patrick R. Love
Principal
Patrick Love taught for several years in underserved communities in Chicago before he co-founded Galapagos Charter School in 2005 where he served as the Executive Director of Academics. At Galapagos, he oversaw a 14% composite increase on the ISAT, which was the second highest growth rate among Renaissance 2010 schools that year. In 2008, he helped the LEARN Charter School network open up a second campus and in the following year he was the Founding Principal of the third LEARN campus located in the East Garfield neighborhood. At LEARN 3rd Campus, he implemented an academic model which resulted in all grade levels being in the 90th percentile rank or higher for academic growth in both reading and math (as determined by 2010 NWEA MAP data). His ability to cultivate a cohesive, high impact instructional team and developing strategic school-wide interventions resulted in more than doubling the number of students at grade level in reading and math by the end of the first school year. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Elementary Education. Additionally, he participated in the Execution in Entrepreneurial School Leadership Program (ExSL), an intensive two year administrative training program developed by the Alain Locke Initiative.
Vonyell Foster
Parent Liaison
Vonyell Foster coordinates and organizes all parent and school-wide events, from Taffy Apple sales to the various parent advisory committee functions. She is dedicated to elimating barriers between parents and Alain Locke Charter School. In addition to her work at Alain Locke, Vonyell is an active member of Communities in Schools as well as various sustainable family building programs in the East Garfield community. Vonyell holds both a Bachelor and Master of Education in Inner-City Studies from Northeastern Illinois University.
Deana Spencer
Director, Family Literacy Center
Deana Spencer is the Director of Alain Locke Charter School – Family Literacy Center. Her passion lies in urban education. She works to create family-centered programs that help prevent the intergenerational cycle that poor education presents for children and their parents. Deana has attended Erikson Institute in Chicago and has received a certificate in Non-profit Management at the University of Chicago. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Southern Illinois University and a master's in Early Childhood Education from Phoenix University. She is a member of the National Association for Young Children and the National Black Child Development Institute.
